|
Related Article |
|
Haqqani network was once CIA's blue-eyed boy: Khar
The Haqqani
network, which the US now holds responsible for recent attacks on
the US embassy in Kabul, was the "blue-eyed boy" of the CIA for
many years, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said.
»
|
Islamabad: Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has convened an all-Party conference
here Thursday to devise a future course of action as Islamabad's
ties with Washington deteriorated following a US accusation that
Pakistan was supporting the Haqqani terror network linked to Al
Qaeda.
Sources told Online new agency that representatives of Pakistan's
military and intelligence agencies would attend the Sep 29
all-party meeting called to discuss the tense diplomatic stand-off
with the US.
The conference is expected to discuss Pakistan-US ties and the
country's security situation.
Leaders of all political parties, including those not represented
in parliament, and heads of religious groups have been invited for
the crucial meeting, sources said Monday.
The course of action would be developed after consultation with
leaders of all political.
US military commanders have accused Pakistan's spy agency, the
Inter-Services Intelligence, of supporting the Haqqani network for
carrying out two attacks on the US embassy in Kabul and US
military base in Afghanistan's Wadak province this month.
Pakistan has denied it.
President Asif Ali Zardari has welcomed the initiative taken by
Gilani to approach political parties for the meet to evolve
national consensus on security situation.
Farhatullah Babar, the president's spokesperson, said that the
president commended the prime minister for taking a very correct
and timely decision in the larger interest of the country.
Ties between Washington and Islamabad have been strained after the
May 2 killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad,
close to Islamabad, by US commandos in a sneak attack.
The relations dipped further when the chairman of the US Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, Sep 22 accused the Pakistani
government of supporting the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.
Mullen called the Haqqani network a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's
ISI.
He said the ISI-supported Haqqani network was behind recent
attacks in Afghanistan, including the Sep 11 truck bomb attack and
the Sep 13 assault on the US embassy in Kabul.
Mullen said the Pakistani government's link to the extremist group
would undermine the already troubled US-Pakistani relationship as
well as the US-led counterterrorism campaign in Afghanistan.
In a retort, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, in an
interview with Al Jazeera, said for many years the Haqqani network
was a "blue-eyed boy" of the CIA.
|
Comments
|
Quick links